Promoting understanding of the Moths and Butterflies
of the County of Pembrokeshire

Welcome to the Pembrokeshire Lepidoptera web site

The County of Pembrokeshire lies to the far south-west of Wales,
is roughly square in shape and bordered on three sides by sea. To
the north and west are Cardigan Bay and the Irish Sea and to the
south is the Bristol Channel. Much of this coastline is made of
cliffs of Old Red Sandstone or Limestone and the habitats linked
with this geology provide a wide variety of Lepidoptera species.

In 1875, just a short time after having moved to Pembroke, the great
lepidopterist, C.G. Barrett published a list of the moths and
butterflies he had seen in the County. This list contained
references to 389 species, a mix of micro-moths, macro-moths and
butterflies. A copy of this list, which include some of the earliest known
records for the County, can be downloaded from the
Reports and Checklists page. Barrett followed with a further,
shorter, list in 1885. Later ones include Leech's 1886 list and Hallett's list from 1928. These three lists are also available for
download from the
Reports and Checklists page.

The Pembrokeshire Lepidoptera Database now includes over 200,000
records, including those mentioned above, but mostly from 1980
onwards. Complete Checklists of various groups are also available
for download from the
Reports and Checklists page.

To ensure that records can be included in the Pembrokeshire
Lepidoptera Database certain criteria must be met and these are laid
out in the
Records page.

Many species of moths and butterflies have some form of
protection. This may be by law under the Wildlife & Countryside Act
or other legislation or because special action is needed to conserve
the species such as U.K. or Local Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP or
LBAP). See the Species page for a
list of all those species found in Pembrokeshire that are also
included on the Welsh Biodiversity Action Plan list.